The Two of Us - Left Behind
by ApocalypseIsNow
Summary: The story of how Cameron became who he was in my story The Two of Us. Follow his journey from Florida to Boston as he fights for his life and a future.


The Two of Us - Left Behind Chapter 1

An Unexpected Visitor

~~~Me~~~

15 Years Later

"And done." I announced to myself as I finished typing the last page of my autobiography.

"What was that Daddy?" My daughter, Riley, asked.

"Oh, I just finished my book." I told her.

I stood from the computer desk, making sure to save the newest and last addition to my story. I stretched upwards, flexing my right wrist backwards.

It still felt strange to be able to use my right hand. After 14 years of it being dead, a researcher from the University of Washington developed robotic implants that simulated tendons or muscles that had been removed from the body.

I turned away from the computer. Riley was sitting across the living room from me, reading a book. I took a deep breath, sudden, nostalgic memories flooded me as I thought back to what I had just wrote about.

"Ellie?" I called out as I walked out of the room.

"I'm in here!" She yelled back from our bedroom.

I slowly walked towards her voice, a weird feeling of buried guilt and pain surfacing inside of me. Something was about to happen, I could feel it.

"Ellie, aren't Maria and Tommy supposed to be here by now?" I asked her as I stepped into the room.

Even after all these years, I was still stricken by her beautiful features. Ellie made brief eye contact with me as she finished her daily stretches, her bright, green eyes making my heart skip.

"You know how traffic can be." Ellie replied, getting up from the floor.

"Can you go get Joel out of his room please?" Ellie asked. "It's been a long time since Maria and Tommy have been here, and I want them to actually see Joel."

"Of course."

I walked across the hallway and knocked on Joel's door.

"Joel? Your Aunt and Uncle are going to be here soon. Come out so you can say hi when they get here." I told him.

I heard him grunt in reply and I shook my head as I made my way back towards the front of the house, the strange feeling growing inside me.

Then, I heard a knock on the door.

"Ellie! Joel! They're here!" I yelled.

I opened the door and nearly broke into tears. It wasn't Maria and Tommy, it was someone I hadn't seen in nearly 17 years.

"Long time no see." The large, black man said in his usual gruff voice.

"Gavin, it's been a while."

17 years earlier

Just outside Tallahassee, Florida

"C'mon, over the fence!" I said boosting my younger sister, Juliette, over the fence.

I then jumped the fence that surrounded the town just in time to evade a ferocious runner. I stumbled when I hit the ground, using my hands to keep myself from falling.

"Run!" I told her as the fence behind us caved from the weight of runners piling behind it.

We ran through the forest surrounding us, trying to stay ahead of the horde chasing us.

Just keep running. Don't look back. I told myself.

I followed my little sister through the woods, avoiding any obvious roots and rocks.

But I was paying to much attention to the ground and ran straight into a low tree branch. I was knocked to the ground, jarring my body on the bumpy ground.

"Cameron!" I heard Juliette scream as I rolled onto my back just in time to stop a runner from pouncing on me.

I held back the grotesque creature with my right arm and was unable to push it of off me. I threw my left arm up at it wildly, successfully making contact with its face and knocking it off me. I could feel the flesh on my hand tear apart as the beast bit me when I made contact. I was panicking as I ran. I knew I was done, no one survives a bite. Soon I would be one of them.

Juliette was far ahead of me, running and jumping over roots. I followed her, leaving the horde to their prize that was my home.

"I think we're good." I said to my sister, out of breath.

"What are we going to do?" She asked, tears beginning to well up in her eyes.

"I'm not sure. I guess we just keep going." I told Juliette, grabbing her hand and pulling her along with me through the woods.

Juliette sobbed quietly behind me as we traversed through the trees surrounding us. As we ran, I forgot about my bite, thinking only of getting my sister to safety.

"C'mon Jules, through here." I said, lifting the broken planks of wood up from the fence in front of us.

After my sister had gone through, I followed, appearing in the backyard of a charred house in a housing complex.

"We've got to be careful through here. We don't know if there are those things hiding in these houses." I told Juliette.

"Cameron I'm scared." Juliette sobbed, clinging to my arm.

"I know. But I won't let anything happen to you, okay?" I said trying to comfort my 12 year old sister.

Juliette nodded her acknowledgement and remained clinging to my arm as we went.

The world was silent now, the only sounds coming from our breathing, footsteps, and a rustle from the light breeze that blew. It was a beautiful day out, barring the fact that everything Juliette and I knew was know gone forever. It was warm, with a nice, cool breeze, and there wasn't a single cloud in the sky.

"Cameron, your bleeding." Juliette said as my left hand caught her eye, blood streaming the bite wound.

"It's nothing. Don't worry about it." I reassured her.

"You're bleeding a lot though Cam."

"It's fine. It's noth-..."

"It isn't nothing!" Juliette shouted, surprising me and even herself.

"C'mon, we've gotta keep moving." I told her.

Present Day

"How come you never told me any of this?" Ellie asked angrily.

"It was 17 years ago. I wanted to put it behind me. Sometimes the past should stay the past." I replied.

"That little story still doesn't explain how you know this man."

"It's Gavin." Gavin and I said at the same time.

"I wouldn't be here today without him." I explained. "And I'm getting there."

17 Years Earlier

"Cameron, I'm tired." Juliette complained as the sun began to set in the distance.

"We'll stop in a bit. Need to find a place to stop first." I told her.

As we walked down the crumbling asphalt street, I could not see a standing house anywhere in sight. The buildings near this road had all been burnt down to just their cracking foundations and pieces of charred wood.

"Cam, there isn't anything around here." Juliette complained.

I eyed the broad expanse of skeleton houses for anything suitable for the two of us. I could Juliette watching me, a sort of potent uneasiness spreading through my chest. It was one thing to be out in the wilderness during the day, but to be stuck out here in the middle of the night was not an experience I was yet ready to have. Not to say that I had never been outside the protection of walls or fences, I knew how to handle a couple infected with a knife or a gun, but I had never managed to take down a clicker, or any infected during the night for the lack of sight. We would be easy targets and make more noise in the dark.

"We'll find something Jules." I reassured her.

I knew that what I had just said had no truth to it. I wanted to believe it, and maybe, somewhere in the back of my mind, there was a faint glimmer of hope that we would be okay, not just for tonight, but in the long run.

"Are you sure?" She asked.

"Almost."

I felt Juliette grab my hand, brushing my still fresh bite mark.

"What's th-?"

"Nothing." I shot at her, yanking my hand away. "Look, I think there is something up there."

Up ahead, tucked off the side of road was a house with a roof and four walls still mostly intact, it would do. I unconsciously rubbed my left hand as we approached, making it start bleeding again.

"Be ready, I don't know what'll be in there." I told Juliette, who only offered me a rude stare.

I slowly nudged open the rotten wood door with my toe, the door loudly protesting as it opened. I began tapping the doorframe with my knife, listening and prepared for whatever happened. I heard nothing and crept into the room.

I nodded to Juliette and she crept into the room too. I signaled for her to stay as I carefully searched the rest of the house.

"It's clear." I said to her, just loud enough for her to hear. "Just in time too."

Juliette nodded in agreement as we set up our bedrolls in a room off the entrance.

"We'll have to look for some food tomorrow, we don't really have much." I said.

"Ok."

I watched Juliette as she tossed and turned for hours until she finally stopped and appeared to fall asleep. The last thing I wanted to do was fall asleep now, and turn and kill Juliette in her sleep. I couldn't go either, I would stay with her until it wasn't safe anymore.

I heard noises outside a couple hours later, voices. I froze and grabbed my knife, praying they didn't come in here.

I could hear the front door being opened and footsteps in the house. It sounded like more than two as well. I heard them go upstairs, giving me a window. I opened the door to our room and was immediately met with a fist to the face and knee on my chest after I hit the ground.

"Be quiet." A man whispered. "Is there anyone else with you?"

"Gavin? What's going on down there?" I heard another yell.

"Nothing! Slipped on some damn wet floorboards!" The man holding me down shouted back.

"I'm trying to help you. Is there anyone else here?" He asked again.

"My sister. In there." I whispered.

"I'll make sure she stays safe. But now I have to take you with me." He said, pulling me to my feet.

"Found one hiding! Rest of the bottom floor is clear!" He shouted.

"We're all clear up here too. Let's get rolling now." The other man shouted as he came downstairs, two others behind him.

"I hope this one knows how to fight. It's hard finding them now." One said.

"It doesn't matter, someone will still end up dead." The third said as he approached me and punched me in the head, knocking me out.

I awoke sometime later in a dim, dank cell of some sort. I sat up, holding my head as it throbbed in pain.

"Good, you're awake." I heard someone say.

I looked up to see a very large, bald black man approaching me. He looked somewhat upset, his lips tight and slightly down turned, his brown eyes flicking from object to object as he approached me.

"Name's Gavin." He said. "I'm here to help, okay?"

I studied him intently. His head was very large and very noticeable because of its size and his very defined jaw and nose. His shoulders were broad and his arms were thick. His very size was extremely intimidating, but he seemed gentle.

"Don't worry about your sister, I'll make sure she is safe. I can check up on her every so often and bring her things. I left her a note." Gavin explained.

"Why?" I asked.

Gavin clasped his large hands together and rolled his shoulders before speaking.

"I'm out here to survive. These guys know how to do that, but I don't agree much with their actions." He explained.

"What did he mean about me 'knowing how to fight'?" I asked him.

"In a couple days they'll throw you in the ring. A fight to the death with another kid who has been on a win streak for a few months now." Gavin told me.

"I-I-I can't... No..."

"You have to. It's the only way you'll survive and have any chance of seeing your sister again." Gavin said sternly.

"I can't fight, not like that anyway." I told Gavin, trembling now.

"I'm here to teach you. Back before all this started I was a hand-to-hand combat trainer in the Marines. Now, what's your name?" He asked.

"Cameron."

"Well Cameron, I hope you're a quick learner because it's learn or die starting right now."

A/N Wow! I finally released something! Surprising, huh? No excuses for why I haven't updated my other stories, just lost interest in writing for a bit along with being busy. I'm sure you all saw the trailer for The Last of Us: Part II? Pretty exciting, huh? Anyway, feedback is always appreciated (on my writing or the trailer for this one) and don't forgot to follow and favorite if you enjoyed!

~~Chapter 5 for my SAO series will hopefully be up this week.


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